Also, most law schools are very left-leaning, so Yale isn't exactly special in this regard. It's more an issue that due to it's size, it'll be harder to find a critical mass of people who share your political viewpoints. Of course, to get to LS you have to go through college, and there's only a handful of colleges in the country which aren't left-leaning, so it's not like these people aren't used to it by now.

My UG isn't the most extreme among that handful, but the student body's definitely right-leaning. I'd really like to quit focusing activism on the campus and actually get with other like-minded folks, work on bringing activism to the nation instead. YLS seems a good place for that.

Su, swats, others: you're not alone in obsessing. I've been offline most of this school year (lots of s*** going down) so am new to LSD, but ... pfft. I'm not entirely sure I'll even take an acceptance elsewhere, although there are some seriously attractive aspects to (most of) the others on my application list. The only thing I don't love about Yale is the location.

Also, glad to see some others around here are pushing the deadline for actually submitting Yale's app. I'm not sure how that'll affect our chances.

Ramble: Until September I knew nothing about law schools and wasn't really planning to apply to anywhere near the top. Just wanted a JD because it makes sense to study law before you change it. I figured I'd do pretty well on the LSAT without much prep, get a scholarship to somewhere like Cincinnati (hs friend's there w/$ and worse stats) and that's that. Then my teacher (a YLS grad) told me about Yale and the COAP, I started reading more about law schools in general, and pretty soon I was a goner. Now I'm obsessed/excited but can't shake the feeling that I was really unprepared (for applications) and may've shot myself in the foot by applying right now.

Fun anecdote: My prof said that on his first day at Yale everybody was debating some offensive images contrasting the unacceptability of stereotypical black/Jewish caricature w/the acceptability of native American caricature (ie, in sports). I thought the execution sounded pretty cool, and it means there's still place for controversy on campus.

Once you reach a certain point in reputation, do the fine differences really matter? An excellently-perceived school is an excellently-perceived school.

Personal fit becomes really important then. Pretending I had the choice of any school for a moment... I wouldn't go to Harvard, for example. Too cold, too large, "feels" like an institution. Stanford has the reputation, an excellent climate and offers a strong program combining sociology with law. Yale lets you design your own studies pretty much, "feels" like a community and, for me, the strength in theory is a plus. New Haven is too cold, but hey, it's not a lifetime residence. I'd actually extend this thinking to several lower-but-well-ranked schools (like Berkeley), because they offer other neat benefit.

I don't provide here my full thought process--not that it's a mathematical formula, anyway--but thoughts like those above are doubtless affecting people's individual choices. For me, I'm interested in social justice and will probably be an activist, unless I become too radical and corner myself in academia. Not sure I'll ever practice law, but I'm definitely interested in how law interacts with society. I like Foucault's take on language, and formalized legal language deserves critical study as much as common language. I want a more liberal campus than I had for undergrad, I want a small school where professors can actually know me, and reputation/networking are probably somewhat important, since I'm not going for a big$$$ job. Etc, etc, etc.

It doesn't matter what a poll of lawyers/students/the public finds to be the best school (on whatever criteria). It matters what's best for me (with my needs/interests).